World entertainment habits were changed dramatically with the advent of the television in the latter part of the first half of the twentieth century. Prior to the availability of commercial television, the primary electrical/electronic sources of entertainment were provided by radio and movies. In the case of the latter medium, it was necessary for a person to leave his home to avail himself of the entertainment. For this reason, therefore, television had particular appeal.
As the decades since the emergence of television have passed, television has retained its appeal, although the percentage of favor of the various media has fluctuated from time to time. with the advent of the VCR (video cassette recorder), however, new interest in television as a source of entertainment has arisen. It has enabled the best of two or more worlds to be realized. Not only is commercial network television programming available, but first-run movies can now also be viewed in the privacy and relaxing atmosphere of one's home.
As the television has matured, controls and controlling equipment have become more sophisticated. Television remote control units have been made available to the consuming public. Such units enable channel changing and other adjustments to be made by a viewer while the viewer remains comfortable in his favorite recliner or arm chair.
Similarly, VCR's and other similar equipments can also be "fitted" with their respective remote control units. Not only a television unit which a viewer employs to watch a video tape, but also the tape player can be controlled remotely from the comfort of a chair across the room.
Consequently, a situation known as "coffee table clutter" has arisen. Research generated by the General Electric Company and RCA indicates that more than 2.5 households have at least three remote control accessories for controlling different equipments. The same research reflects that in excess of ten million households have at least two remote units. As can be seen, therefore, proliferation of remotes in any particular household can be common.
Various attempts have been made to rectify this problem. All attempts to date, however, have focused in one area. The offered solution has been a single unified, or universal, remote controller. Such an accessory goes far to provide a solution to the problem of "coffee table clutter". Such devices enable virtually every infrared, remote controller-operated audio and video component in a home to be brought under the operation of a single device.
Various manufacturers have recognized the problem discussed hereinbefore and have developed a universal accessory for controlling televisions, VCR's, compact disc players, etc. these companies include General Electric, Magnavox, Onkyo, Sanyo, and others.
Still, problems remain. For example, such universal remote control apparatus tend to be expensive. The least expensive tend to be marketed at a price of at least $100. Units of this type are, typically, sold at a price in a range between $100 and $150. It is envisioned that, as sophistication gets greater, costs will increase even more.
This cost investment in an expensive piece of equipment seems particularly avoidable and wasteful in view of the fact that the owner of the various electronic equipments still has a plurality of remotes which operate individual equipments. He is confronted with the decision whether to save the remote control units into a unitary assembly to eliminate the problems associated with plural accessories.